Monthly Archives: February 2012

Almost three weeks ago, your favorite iPhone repair company brought you the first images of the iPad 3 back housing. To say we got everyone talking might be somewhat of an understatement. Right after our pictures went viral, a slew of other leaks brought us a lot of information on the iPad 3 and what we can expect. With Apple's announcement only a week away, we still have some time to speculate on what we will hear about the tablet's update.

Before we were able to show you an unfortunately low-res picture of the iPad 3 back case. Now we have our own iPad 3 back housing, and our techs have spent some time examining it. Below are some of the changes we can confirm with our previous intel and other sources.

The LCD mount is different, and that coincides with the rumors and evidence we have had pointing to a higher resolution display that will be different from what we had on the iPad 2.

Now that we have had it in our hands, we can confirm the battery area of the iPad 3 is 5/8 inch larger than the iPad 2. More battery to allow for that high-resolution screen and to keep your iPad from the charger for the same amount of time we have grown accustomed to.

The charger port dock is different. After comparing the two iPads, our techs believe that the iPad 3 charging port has been beefed up to provide more stable support. We have had several customers with bent USB ports on iPad 1 and 2, and this added support should keep that from happening as often for iPad 3 users.

The housing on the iPad 3 is a measly 1mm thicker roughly, but it's such a minor change you probably wouldn't notice the difference.

Not a great deal of information, but enough to see where rumors are going right, and a lot to support them. Now we just have to wait that week until we are able to find out if all of the rumors were true.

RepairLabs is exclusively able to confirm some changes in the iPad 3, thanks to industry insiders in China. Pictured above is the new iPad 3 back housing, juxtaposed with the current back of the iPad 2. You can see that there are several subtle differences, and together with our techs, we are able to tell you just what to expect when Apple announces the iPad 3. We looked at the pieces closely, and below you can find our conclusions on what the obvious differences might mean, and how close some of the speculation has been.

A. You can see here that the mounts for the logic board are very different, which means the logic board shape will be different allowing for . . . .

B. More battery. The width of where the logic board sits on the iPad 2 appears much larger than that of the iPad 3. We have long heard that the iPad 3 was going to provide longer battery life, and this back housing seems to support that.

C. The camera is different. It is hard to make a judgment just by looking at the casing, but what we can expect is a different camera on the iPad 3 than what we had on the 2.

D. LCD will be different than what we have had before. Whether or not it will be the super screen we have seen reported will have to wait. But the different mounting does mean that the LCD has been redesigned at the very least.

The LCD is probably what most of us are eagerly awaiting, especially with some of the reports of the upgraded part. However, our insiders tell us that so far the screen is not out there yet. That could mean that the finished product has not been signed off or that it is being kept top secret.

Our source also told us that the housing itself did not seem thicker on the iPad 3 than it does on the 2. There have been a lot of reports that said the iPad 3 would be a millimeter or two thicker than the 2, and according to our source, that could be false. It is a little bit hard to conclude without measuring both with screens in place, however.

Whatever the case may be, this back housing provides an interesting look into the changes we can expect when the iPad 3 is officially announced.

From your favorite iPhone repair site comes another great app recommendation - and this one is a pretty awesome tool for only $1.99. MealBoard, simply put, lets you plan a menu for your week, import recipes, and takes the meals you've planned and creates a grocery list. Fully customizable and loaded with some great recipes already, MealBoard is easy to use and helps organize your meal times. Great for planning out family dinners or for those who want to plan ahead, you can even import recipes from top sites like AllRecipes.com and Epicurious. The web app gives you a lot more control and syncs back to your iPhone or iPad.

It customizes your grocery list, letting you know just how much you need. With MealBoard, you can even choose your portion sizes, which will in turn adjust your shopping list and recipe. Get organized and stop cooking spaghetti for every other meal!